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Emerging AI Tools for Literature Review: Prompting Tips

This guide consolidates the teaching materials for library workshop Emerging AI Tools for Literature Review.

Prompting Tips (for LLMs)

There are many “prompting guides” out there, but not all of them are suitable for research purposes. 

Here are two simple structures or frameworks that can help you write better prompts. They are quite similar - so pick one that is easier for you to remember. 

Note: These prompting tips (or prompt engineering techniques) are used for pure LLMs such as ChatGPT or bots on Poe.com, not for RAG-based tools such as Scite.ai, Elicit, Scopus AI. Learn more from this article.

PROPER framework CREATE framework
P - Persona Which role should the model take? C - Character Which role should the model take?
R - Request What task should it do? R - Request What task should it do?
O - Operation In which way / method? E - Examples Give an example or template to follow
P - Presentation In which format / style / tone? A - Adjustments In which way / method?
E - Examples Give an example or template to follow T - Type of output In which format / style / tone?
R - Refinement Give feedback, iterate and improve result E - Extras Give feedback, iterate and improve result
Source: Peter Gruber. "Using ChatGPT for Efficient Data Analysis with R" Workshop. Source: Dave Birss. "How to Research and Write Using Generative AI Tools" Online Course.

Examples:

(Using PROPER framework)

 
Example 1 - Explore keywords
Example 2 - Find research directions
P - Persona You are an experienced researcher specializing in health and wellness.  You are an experienced author specializing in the intersection of AI and academic publishing.
R - Request Please suggest some keywords related to my research topic which is "sleep and weight control". I'm researching on how generative AI can impact academic publishing. Can you give me some directions to look into?
O - Operation
(optional)
Analyze the topic "sleep and weight control" and use your extensive database to identify the most relevant and frequently associated topics, terms, and phrases. Use your comprehensive database to identify various aspects of the topic, including potential challenges, opportunities, and implications.
P - Presentation List the result in bullet points. List the result in bullet points. Each bullet should include a brief explanation of why that direction is relevant or interesting to the topic.
E - Examples
(optional)

Keywords related to sleep: 
- sleep deprivation
- sleep disorder

Keywords related to weight control: 
- weight gain
- diet

 
R - Refinement
(optional)

(After the first round of keyword suggestions, I will provide feedback on which terms are most helpful and which are less relevant. You will then refine your suggestions based on this feedback to provide a more targeted list.)

Follow-up prompt:

  • Give me 5 more keywords on each list
  • Can you list them in table format instead

(After the first round of suggested research directions, I will provide feedback on which directions are most relevant and interesting, and which areas might need more exploration. You should then refine your suggestions based on this feedback to provide a more targeted list of potential research directions.)

Follow-up prompt:

  • Can you elaborate on this point: Plagiarism Detection
  • Summarize each point in one sentence
See results on Poe

Assistant (GPT-3.5): https://poe.com/s/JmBKFXWJjMkTJm1xqeOl

GPT-4: https://poe.com/s/a1qYuEm1UcAD6HnybfVF

Assistant (GPT-3.5): https://poe.com/s/aQD6B2BbhDqNDuOP5AEH

GPT-4: https://poe.com/s/OJNtz0FqQyoUzWQBSuKa

Notes: The framework only provides a simple structure to follow. It does not mean that you should include every component in every prompt. The key components that will affect the results are: Request, Presentation, and Examples.


Other Useful Prompting Techniques

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